This summer, ABC has been showing the 15th season of the Bachelorette, starring the former Miss Alabama, Hannah Brown.
From the very beginning, Hannah interested me. She was a self-proclaimed smalltown girl with a strong Christian faith and the hope of finding her lifetime love. She reminded me a little bit of Emily Maynard, another southern Christian girl, who didn’t exactly find her husband on the Bachelor or the Bachelorette, but is now happily married to a guy she met at church and with whom she shares four children. I was hoping for the same with Hannah.
And it seemed ABC was ready to help her find a man of faith. Enter contestant Luke P, a self- proclaimed strong Christian who was repentant after a wild time in college, and was abstaining from sex until marriage. When Hannah gave Luke the First Impression Rose, it seemed Christianity was going to be presented in a positive light on prime time t.v.
Sadly, it was not to be. Luke became the villain of the season pretty quickly. He was arrogant, obnoxious and a little violent. He also lied to his fellow contestants and spent a lot of his one-on-one time with Hannah telling stories about the other guys. I know these reality shows are heavily edited, but Luke continually said things and then back-peddled or just straight up lied about it and that was a big problem.
Luke saw himself as a sort of crusader for Hannah’s heart and felt that he was better than the other guys because of his faith. In his eyes, the ends justified the means, which isn’t exactly a biblical concept. I think he was also very competitive and the idea of just being the last guy standing was very appealing to him.
But Hannah had her issues as well. Pretty early on the network started showing a sneak peek of our Bachelorette saying, “I have had sex. And Jesus still loves me.” Christians on social media called her out on it. Hannah defended herself on this Instagram Post.
I was intrigued. What was Hannah’s understanding of sin and forgiveness and her responsibility for any of it? Turns out, Hannah gave a pretty good synopsis of her beliefs with Entertainment Tonight – Emphasis mine.
“A lot of times, people get Christianity and religion messed up, because your faith should be something personal in a relationship and it’s not to judge others or say, ‘Christianity is something you welcome others into.’ It should be a place where people feel safe and welcomed… and not to feel judged or shamed.” she explained. “Regardless of any thing that I’ve done that people might think, ‘Oh, well, that deserved a scarlet letter,’ that’s not how it works. I can do whatever. I sinned daily, and Jesus still loves me. It’s all washed, and if the Lord doesn’t judge me and it’s all forgiven, then no other man, woman, animal — anything, I don’t know — can judge me!”
Hannah further stated on the latest episode of The Men Tell All: “The basis of what I believe is love, and loving others, and understanding and not shaming.”
Another big part of Hannah’s theology involves the idea that everybody sins. She told Luke on their last date that “Do I make mistakes? I’m not Jesus.” And pointed out that even though she has slept with other guys, he was full of pride, so somehow, it all evens out. At The Men Tell All, she pointed to everyone in the audience as being daily sinners.
Hannah’s idea of Christianity seems to be that she does believe in God and in Jesus Christ as her personal savior. She understands that He has an unconditional love for her and she takes great comfort in that. Safety, understanding and love, are the three prongs of her take on Christianity.
Responsibility, not so much.
Where it seems to fall short is any type of understanding of repentance, penitence, and renewal. There also does not seem to be any value in Hannah’s mind of fellow Christians calling her out or trying to point out some of the traditional Christian tenants of sex in the context of marriage and what that is important. Anything that makes her feel bad about herself is judging. Judging = bad in her world view.
Last Monday night, (interestingly, on the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene), Luke did apologize to the guys (sort of) and he apologized to Hannah. The grace that she speaks of with such reverence for her own life, she was wont to bestow on him. She railed against him for a good five minutes while he remained mostly silent. She took an additional swipe at him at the very end after Luke had left the building. For someone who was tired of talking about Luke P, Hannah couldn’t help but bring him up at the end … again.
I wonder what young Americans think of Christianity now? Probably Nick Viall hit it on the head here. “I think in terms of sex positivity and being yourself. Hannah showing that you can still have a faith and be strong and have a religion and not being ashamed of it and I think you can have a faith-based life and not shame people.”
In a nutshell, what we learned this season from Bachelorette theology is that it’s okay to have a faith. It’s okay to express that faith. But it’s not okay to shame someone into living bible-based Christian values, particularly someone who says they have those values or you’re shaming them. And God forbid, anyone ever feels shame for their sins. Everybody sins, so it’s okay for you because it’s all covered and don’t make me feel bad about it. Bachelor Nation has spoken.
And Jesus wept.